GREATER NOIDA: Vipin Bhati, the husband of 28-year-old Nikki Bhati, who died after she was allegedly assaulted and set on fire at her in-laws’ home in Greater Noida, was arrested after the police shot at him when he tried to escape from the police custody. The accused suffered a gunshot wound in his leg, police said on Sunday.
Nikki died during treatment at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital on Thursday. She was hospitalised with serious burn injuries that evening. Her sister Kanchan, who is married to Vipin’s brother Rohit, has alleged that Vipin and his mother Daya set Nikki on fire. Chilling visuals shared by Kanchan show the mother and son assaulting Nikki. Another clip shows a burning Nikki stumbling down a staircase. While Vipin and his mother Daya have been arrested, father Satyavir, and brother Rohit are on the run.
Nikki’s father, Bhikari Singh Payla, told news channels that he wanted the accused to be shot. “They are killers, they should be shot, their home razed. My daughter was bringing up her son by running a parlour. They tortured her. The whole family was involved in the conspiracy, and they killed my daughter,” he said, hours before Vipin attempted to escape and the police opened fire.
Senior police officer Sudhir Kumar told the media that they took Vipin to his home on Sunday to recover the bottle containing the flammable liquid used to burn Nikki. “He snatched a cop’s pistol and opened fire. In retaliatory firing, he suffered a bullet injury in his leg,’’ the senior police officer said.
The family of the victim, Nikki, claimed that she had been tortured since her marriage in 2016 by them for a dowry demand of Rs 36 lakh, even after they had fulfilled their demand for Scorpio vehicle and a motorcycle.
Nikki’s mother-in-law Daya (55) and wife of Satyaveer, has also been arrested. She had been absconding since the incident and has been named in the FIR filed by the victim’s family, police said.
The FIR was lodged on Friday under BNS sections 103(1) (murder), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 61 (2) (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or others) at Kasna Police Station in Greater Noida. The case was registered on August 22, the police said.
The victim’s father Bhikahri Singh said his daughters Kanchan (29) and Nikki (26) were married to brothers Rohit Bhati and Vipin Bhati, respectively, in 2016. “Since then they have been torturing both the daughters and demanded dowry.”
“They demanded a Scorpio car. We gave them, and again they demanded a bullet motorcycle, which we gave them. Their demands were increasing day by day. And after that they began demanding Rs 36 lakh from us,” he added.
He claimed that many times a panchayat was organised to settle the dispute, but all the efforts were wasted.
“I want strict action against the family and an encounter should be done. This is Baba’s (Yogi Adityanath) government, their house should also be bulldozed. If not we will sit on hunger strike,” he demanded.
The victim’s six-year-old son who witnessed the horrifying incident, said,“Meri mumma ke upar kuch dala, fir unko chanta mara fir lighter se aag laga di. (they poured something on my mother, slapped her and set her ablaze using a lighter).”
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Sudhir Kumar had on Friday said that police got a call from Fortis Hospital informing them that a woman with burn injuries had been admitted and was referred to Safdarjung Hospital.
“Police immediately left for Safdarjung Hospital, but the woman succumbed to her injuries before the team could reach the hospital,” he said.
Kanchan said that their in-laws wanted her sister to go away so that Vipin could be remarried. “They slapped me. I was injured and unconscious the entire day.” Nikki was cremated by her family members.